Surah Al-An'aam (6) — Ayah 151

151. Say, "Come, let me recite to you what your Lord has forbidden to you: that you do not associate anything with Him; and be good to parents; and do not kill your children for fear of poverty—We provide for you and for them; and do not approach immoralities, whether open or hidden; and do not kill the soul which Allah has forbidden, except by right. This He has instructed you, so that you may use reason."

[165] That is, the self-made law you have created for yourselves and the unnecessary restrictions you have imposed upon yourselves—there is no scholarly or rational proof for them with you. Now I will tell you and recite from the Book of Allah what Allah has actually made unlawful for you and what restrictions He has imposed, which are necessary for the welfare of mankind and have always been a part of Allah’s Shariah. It is noteworthy that the commands Allah has mentioned at this place were violated by both the polytheists and the Jews.

[166]
All Types of Shirk Were Found Among the Polytheists of Makkah:

The very first and foremost thing is that you should not associate anyone as a partner with Allah. There are three major types of shirk:
(1) Shirk in the Essence (2) Shirk in the Attributes (3) Shirk in Worship
And all three types were present among these polytheists and Jews. The polytheists considered the angels to be the daughters of Allah. Then they made the entire lineage of their goddesses and gods as the lineage of Allah and associated them with Him. The Jews called ‘Uzair ؑ the son of Allah, meaning according to their belief, Allah had indwelled in the body of ‘Uzair ؑ. Shirk in the Attributes is to consider any other being, like Allah, as the fulfiller of needs and remover of difficulties—that is, someone who can both rectify one’s affairs and entangle one in difficulties. And this is only possible if that being is also considered All-Knowing of the unseen, ever-present, and possessing authority and power. This type of shirk was also common among those people. And shirk in worship is to call upon the being whom one considers a remover of difficulties or fulfiller of needs, to offer sacrifices and vows to them, and to worship and revere them in the same way as Allah is worshipped.

[167]
Good Treatment of Parents:

In several places in the Quran, immediately after the rights of Allah, good treatment of parents is mentioned—at this place, in Surah Bani Isra’il verse 23, and in Surah Luqman verse 14 as well. The reason is that the true nurturer of man is Allah, Who created the needs of the human body, created air and water, and then made all of man’s nutritional needs dependent on the earth. After that, apparently, the responsibility for a person’s upbringing falls upon his parents. Furthermore, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ counted disobedience to parents or causing them distress as the third among the major destructive sins. [بخاري۔ كتاب الادب۔ بابعقوق الوالدين من الكبائر]
For more on good treatment of parents, see [سورة بني اسرائيل آيت نمبر 23، 24 كے حواشي نمبر 25 تا 28].

[168]
Killing of Children:

That is, if you yourselves have food to eat, then be sure that your children will also have food to eat and they will not die of hunger. Killing children out of fear of poverty is not only a sign of lack of trust and reliance upon Allah, but it is a direct attack on His attribute of being the Provider (Razzaq)—as if He creates the creation but does not provide for their nourishment. That is why the Messenger of Allah counted this sin as the second among the major sins. [بخاري۔ كتاب التفسير۔ باب __QUR_0__]

Killing of Children and the Malthusian Theory of Population:

The fact is that man only considers the apparent causes and factors that exist at the time, while the hidden causes that are not present at the time or will arise in the future are hidden from his sight. Superficial economists often fall into error on this issue. The famous British economist, Malthus [1766۔ 1834ء], in 1798 wrote a book “Principles of Population” and presented the theory that human population increases geometrically, i.e., in the ratio of 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, while the means of production increase arithmetically, i.e., in the ratio of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. Based on this theory, he calculated the population and means of production of Britain at the time and predicted that if the situation remained the same, Britain would fall into poverty within fifty years. As a solution, he suggested that human birth should be controlled and marriage should be delayed as much as possible. But history proved Malthus’s theory of poverty wrong. Despite not controlling births, Britain’s prosperity continued to increase. The real reason is what we have already mentioned: that Allah, as much creation as He brings into existence, also arranges their sustenance accordingly. The apparent reason was that the Industrial Revolution occurred in Britain, the beginning of which Malthus himself mentioned, and this was the very cause that was hidden from Malthus but known to Allah. Thus, later economists referred to Malthus as the “false prophet,” because Britain, due to the Industrial Revolution, became even more prosperous than before. Malthus’s purely materialistic theory also brought with it another evil, which was the curse of immorality and debauchery, mentioned immediately in this verse. According to Malthus, birth control—that is, terminating pregnancy through medicines—was a great necessity of the time. This became a major cause of indulgence, immorality, and debauchery. After Malthus, a movement arose whose basic principle was that the desires of the self, i.e., sexual desires, should be fulfilled freely, but the natural consequence—childbirth—should be prevented by scientific means. In the literature of this group, the line of reasoning emphasized is that every human being naturally faces three strong needs: food, rest, and sexual desire. And only by fulfilling all three does a person find satisfaction and special pleasure. Now, reason and logic demand that man should strive to fulfill them. Regarding the first two, this is indeed man’s behavior, but strangely, in the matter of the third, man’s behavior is entirely different. Social morals have imposed the restriction that this desire should not be fulfilled outside of marriage, and further, that childbirth should not be prevented. These restrictions are considered entirely absurd, contrary to reason and logic, and producing the worst results for humanity. When these ideas became popular, a tremendous flood of immodesty, obscenity, and debauchery swept in. Then, ironically, these very things began to be considered symbols of civilization and progress. And all countries impressed by the West and Western civilization began to import these ideas into their own countries so as not to lag behind the West in the pace of civilization and progress. To the extent that hijab, chastity, and divine commands began to be mocked, and today the situation is that the media all over the world is actively engaged in spreading this immodesty, shamelessness, obscenity, and debauchery.

Family Planning:

Like other countries, in Pakistan too, a government department for birth control was established and given attractive and pleasant names. First, the department was named “Family Planning.” Then its name was changed to “Population Welfare Department.” But since the act of preventing pregnancy through medicines is a war against nature, its results began to turn out contrary to expectations. Previously, the average number of children per person was four, and now this average is considered to be up to eight children, and after the establishment of this department in Pakistan, the birth rate has increased much more than before. The second result was that women using such contraceptive medicines began to suffer from various dangerous diseases.

The Results of Waging War Against Nature:

Now, if you look at the economy of the people, the government’s fears have also proved to be baseless and false. When Pakistan was created, its population was between fifty and sixty million, and today, after 51 years, it is one hundred and thirty million, i.e., more than double. Now, everyone should look at their own circumstances and see what their economic condition was at the time of Pakistan’s creation and what it is today. Today, everyone is much more prosperous than at that time, and during this period, Allah has granted Pakistan many earthly treasures that no one could have even imagined. After these eyewitness and personally experienced events, is there any room left for doubt in Allah’s attribute of being the Provider, His vast knowledge, and His perfect power?

[169] That is, do not even adopt such means that bring you close to acts of indecency and stimulate sexual desires in a person, such as immodesty, looking at non-mahram women, watching spectacles, cinema, TV, reading sexual literature, widespread publication of women’s pictures—all of this falls under this category. Thus, the Prophet ﷺ said, “The adultery of the eyes is (looking at non-mahram women), the adultery of the ears is (listening to indecent talk), the adultery of the tongue is (speaking indecently), the adultery of the hands is (touching), and the adultery of the feet is (walking towards it), and the adultery of the heart is desiring and wishing for it. Then the private part either confirms all of this or denies it.” [مسلم۔ كتاب القدر۔ باب قدر على ابن آدم حظه الزنا]
Also, the Prophet ﷺ said, “No one is more possessive than Allah. That is why He has made all acts of indecency unlawful.” Also, Sayyidah Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) narrates that the Prophet ﷺ said, “O Muhammad ﷺ! Allah is most possessive when He sees any of His male or female servants committing adultery.” [بخاري۔ كتاب النكاح۔ باب الغيرة]

[170]
Cases Where Killing is Justified:

According to the Quran, there are three cases in which killing is justified and lawful:
(1) In the case of retribution for intentional murder (2) Killing disbelievers on the battlefield (3) Killing a rebel, i.e., one who spreads disorder in the land of Islam and seeks to overthrow the Islamic government.
And according to the Sunnah, there are two cases: (1) A married person who commits adultery, and (2) A person who commits apostasy, i.e., leaves Islam and adopts another religion. These are a total of five cases. In any other case, killing someone is considered unlawful killing. And the Prophet ﷺ counted this sin as the third among the seven major destructive sins. [بخاري۔ كتاب المحاربين۔ باب رمي المحصنات]